Christen is an attorney and organizational development consultant, specializing in community-based nonprofits, social enterprise, and socially responsible business ventures. Her practice areas include enterprise start up and financing, cooperatives, securities regulation, business agreements, intellectual property, and nonprofit law. She graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where she served as Articles Editor for the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. She did her undergraduate studies at Yale University, where she majored in History and graduated with honors in 2002.

Since 2007, Christen has been on staff at the National Community Development Institute (NCDI), an Oakland-based nonprofit that provides consulting and training services to non-profit and for-profit social enterprises working in diverse, low-income communities.  At NCDI, she works with small and mid-sized organizations in the areas of organizational sustainability, diversified fund development, community engagement, partnership and collaborations, and cross-cultural bridge building.  Christen has a background in community organizing and training around immigrant civic engagement, immigrant rights, and workers’ rights, including volunteer leadership positions with the Korean American Coalition of San Francisco and Asian Immigrant Women Advocates. She previously worked for a San Francisco-based national law firm in the Appellate and Product Liability practice groups, where she conducted legal research and drafted pre-trial and appellate motions in cases involving pharmaceuticals and medical devices.  Currently, she is a pro bono member of the Community-Supported Enterprise Working Group at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, which is working to create free community legal resources to support local investment in local economies. She is also a member of the Yale Alumni Schools Committee and the Association of Asian American Yale Alumni. Christen is a member of the Alameda County Bar Association, Alameda County Bar Association Barristers Section, and the American Bar Association Business Law Section.